Slumberless

"Slumberless" happens to be another animation that attempts to mix 3D computer and stop motion together, only to be a little more successful as compared to "Etoile". The story focuses on a sleep deprived man who also continues to grieve over the loss of a loved one, one night however he is paid a visit by a strange creature.

I always heard that puppets from Mackinnon and Saunders tend to cost an arm and a leg, and so I can't really imagine how much the budget was for this animation short. If I remembered correctly, only the creature's wings were animated in 3D (Or was it the other way round?). Either way, I suppose the mixture of techniques doesn't look as awkward in this animation due to there being lesser 3D effects used, and perhaps even the dark lighting, that can better hide any possible flaws.

The ending was a little odd, I assumed that the creature was in some way a harbinger of death (Or just some scary as frag sleep fairy...), instead of helping the human fall asleep, he pretty much just puts him to rest from what I can see, in the nicest possible way at least (I mean, who doesn't mind turning into a mist of glitter and soft lights when they die?), as a way to repay him for helping him. Though I do believe that much more time and effort would have been needed if the creator had attempted a different ending where the human had lived on (The one that I have been thinking of that is).

Despite the somewhat rushed story, it still was a pretty little animation (Not surprising really especially since he was able to get high quality puppets for it), it had a nice and compelling atmosphere to it, with an effective enough soundtrack. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Etoile

"Etoil" is a 3D computer animation (With photos being used for most of their backgrounds) that follows the title character who lives with her family and her dog Rex in Morocco, Casablanca. During that time, Jewish girls from around the neighbourhood are kidnapped, when the opportunity to leave Morocco arises, Etoil and her family decides to take it.

So, what can I say about the story... Despite the seemingly cheerful music that plays and fairly cute style used for this animation, I know something sad was going to happen (Like most of the animations shown in this festival...). And once I figured out that the dog was going to be an important part of the story... for the rest of the film, I was just dying inside, knowing what would happen, and when it did...

'

Though I suppose it could be worse, it could be like "The Black Dog's Progress" (Created by the same guy who did "The Obvious Child")...

While the backgrounds are most probably stop motion (And sometimes 3D props are added in), I just find the mixture to be a little odd, the 3D characters don't blend in all that well with the backgrounds used. But it isn't really that bad, it was just something I found myself noticing as I watched, some interactions just aren't that believable, it really didn't look like the character was placing her foot down onto the step when she did. 

Still, it was a good attempt (This is coming from someone that only started learning about 3D animation), the character models looked alright I suppose, with the dog easily being my favourite (NOT because I'm bias, but his design looked the least awkward too compared to the humans), the main character's design could have been a little better.

It was interesting however to see others trying to mix  these different techniques together, and I can see that it is a lot more challenging than it looks, not many have been incredibly successful when it comes to executing it, but really, this was pretty good aside from a few flaws here and there.

Interview

Interview from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

"Interview" is a Danish 3D computer animation directed by Mikkel Okholm as Bachelor film project as part of the Animation Workshop, the short focuses on a young man who is interviewing for the most important job of all time... without even knowing what is it.

I just realised that I haven't really gotten the chance to talk about many 3D animations, and looking back on my past posts, so far it has mainly been 2D or stop motion ones. In all honesty, all the 3D and stop motion works were fantastic in this screening, or were at least far more enjoyable as compared to the 2D/traditionally animated ones... But yes going back to this wonderful animation...

If you haven't already watched the video provided in the very beginning, then do so now. This was well animated, well voice acted, and is overall a well written little piece of comedy (The pacing is just perfect, especially for each joke), and I couldn't help but enjoy it even more when I rewatched it (Especially when you are able to connect what happens in the beginning now that you know what happens in the end).

Every aspect of this animation was simply wonderful, even the details (Especially at the ending), lighting and camera angles (That especially makes things hilariously dramatic at times) were so well done.